The Keystone Meeting on the Bacterial Chromosome includes a wide variety of approaches to the general topic of bacterial chromosomes. Chromosomes must be successfully copied, be transmitted to daughter cells, and allow differential expression of encoded information. All of this must happen in the context of the programmed sequence of events that constitute the cell cycle and must still allow rapid response to unscheduled environmental inputs. Chromosome structure is subject to continual selection and yet has remained plastic and capable of change on both short and evolutionary time scales. This meeting examines both the specific mechanisms necessary for chromosome function and their integration with the cell cycle and cell growth. The diverse topics covered provide a unique opportunity for revealing unexpected interrelationships among chromosome functions and new approaches to the study of these functions. The focus of the meeting will be on integrating the emerging understanding of how specific processes (replication, recombination, transposition and transcription) are regulated with the complex biological processes of cell cycle and chromosome movement. This should make the meeting particularly valuable for scientists who normally may only attend meetings on their specific topic and for students and postdoctoral fellows moving into this field.